The business and culture of our digital lives, from the L.A. Times

Facebook says Paul Ceglia should be ordered to pay attorney fees

February 2, 2012 | 8:21
am

Facebook fired back at Paul Ceglia, the New York man who claims he's entitled to half of Mark Zuckerberg's multibillion-dollar stake in the social networking giant, saying he should pay the legal fees its lawyers are requesting.

In papers filed in federal court in Buffalo, N.Y., Facebook said its attorneys had "substantially discounted" and were asking for an amount "far less than what defendants actually paid."

Ceglia, fined last month for failing to turn over evidence in his case against Facebook, is protesting the "stratospheric" legal fees from Facebook's lawyers.

Ceglia said he should not have to pay as much as $716 an hour to Facebook's highest-billing partner for a "garden variety" contract case.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Leslie Foschio said last month that Ceglia must reimburse Facebook for legal fees it incurred in trying to get him to comply with a court order in the partnership dispute.

Ceglia's lawyer, Dean Boland, said in court papers that the fees are unjustified.

Ceglia merited a mention in Facebook's registration statement filed Wednesday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Facebook filed papers to sell its stock to the public and will likely begin trading in May.

"We continue to believe that Mr. Ceglia is attempting to perpetrate a fraud,” the filing said.